Dr Moya Carey is the Iran Heritage Foundation Curator for the Iranian Collections, in the Asia Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum. She completed her doctorate in the Department of Art and Archaeology at SOAS, University of London, in 2001, with a thesis focused on a late thirteenth-century manuscript copy of al-Sufi's Book of Constellations (British Library). Her publications address al-Sufi's illustrated treatise and related poetic traditions, medieval iconography and astronomy, celestial globes, inlaid metalwork and the history of Arabic and Persian manuscript illustration in the Islamic Middle East. She has taught Islamic art history at Aga Khan University, SOAS, the Sotheby's Institute of Art and Birkbeck College, and has worked for public and private collections of Islamic art, including the collection of the late Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan formerly in Geneva. In 2012, she co-edited (with Dr Margaret Graves) the fourth volume of the Journal of Art Historiography, dedicated to the past, present and future historiography of Islamic art. Her current research addresses Qajar Iran, with specific reference to the V&A's collecting histories in the late 19th century, whether commercial, aesthetic or imperialist in scope: she is now cataloguing the Museum's holdings of 19th-century carpets from Iran, in preparation for a book publication.

Research Seminar: Persian and Islamic Arts: Through the lens of Persianate arts, this research seminar invites discussion on artistic practices in pre-modern Eurasia. It encourages new historiographic approaches and interdisciplinary debates and promotes considerations of ‘worldly’ art histories. Speakers will address a range of media from monumental architecture to wearable and portable arts.